Brothers in Arms
by Dave19941000
Summary: With the war between Earth and the Colonies a distant memory, the galaxy is once again plunged into a war of survival. But as is always the case threats are not only from without but within. Sequel to Brother's Betrayal
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: this is a sequel to Brother's Betrayal. It's doubtful this story will be comprehensible to those who have not read that story.**

Prince Albert took in slow, deep breaths to keep himself steady. The young Virgon Prince had not expected to see action so quickly after basic training, and as he was not given any special treatment within the Imperial Navy that meant that his being deployed was just as likely as anyone else.

" _All alert Viper's standby, exiting hyperspace in ten seconds on my mark… mark."_

Ten seconds, he was about to see real combat in ten seconds. Even within the comfort of his new Mark IX Viper he was worried. True the new class of Viper has both twin ballistic railguns and a pair of plasma cannons, and was the first to see the addition of a micro shield system for increased survivability, but it was not yet truly combat tested, and he had no experience outside of training.

" _Entering real space in three, two, one, now."_

He felt the vibration of re-entry into real space, and in less than a second after that he felt himself being propelled forward into the void. Dozens of Vipers around him formed into their wings, preparing for combat against their targets.

Albert took a moment to look over the Battlestar Rhea and its escorts, the first generation of starships from the Human Imperium of Kobol that had been built with discovered alien technology from the ground up. Behind it was a second fleet, three ships in the form of a pair of Earth 304s and a 306 carrier.

" _Attention forces of the Warlord Haboreth, this is Alliance Task Force Seven giving you a final warning. We have attempted cease fire negotiations through diplomatic channels, and all have been turned away and rejected by your leadership. This is the last warning we are willing to give, end your attempts to gain territory through the use of military force or we shall put an end to it through our own use of it. You have thirty seconds to surrender or we will interpret your silence as an acknowledgement of a state of hostility and war between our peoples. Your time starts now."_ The tense silence made Albert feel a deep sinking feeling in his gut. The time seemed to take forever to reach its end, but eventually it did. _"So be it. All detachments of the Terran and Imperial Navy, you are hereby ordered to destroy all forces of the Warlord Haboreth."_

There were three Ha'tak in orbit, meaning that the Viper complement was outnumbered eleven to one, though with their superior manoeuvrability, shielding and having Earth 302 and 205 interceptors and fighters assisting them that gave them the advantage despite the numerical inferiority.

The outcome of the battle was determined before it had begun, with the only question being who would be casualties in it all.

 **Brothers in Arms**

"It's late." Jennifer McKay was clearly unimpressed with the state of the terminal.

"I know, but the board says half past three so it should be any time now." Rodney McKay was equally unimpressed, but he tried his best to hide it. Travel through the gate always seemed to have delays, the line of cars, buses and trucks waiting for their departure filled with travellers waiting for the gate.

Rodney looked to his left, noticing that the line of cars for the four thirty outbound to whatever place they were going to. To his right cars were going into the terminal, heading in the opposite direction as they were waiting to.

"Mom, dad, when are we leaving?"

"Soon Markus, soon," Jennifer assured the young boy, his younger sister sleeping in the seat next to him.

"Oh, here we go," Rodney stated, the stream of cars heading in the opposite direction as them coming to an end. In the distance the line of vehicles started to move, and within a minute he was driving at near highway speeds amongst the others ahead and behind him.

He knew they were approaching their destination when a series of metal guardrails surrounded their car, nine metal bars creating a metal circle around the them. A second later the bus ahead of them disappeared into the Earth stargate, their car following a moment later. A few moments later they exited the gate on New Acadia, Earth colony home to four million people and growing.

The terminal on New Acadia was similar to that on Earth; a large hanger allowing the buses, cars and trucks approved for interplanetary travel moving freely, having already been cleared before entering the terminal at Earth. The awaiting outbound lines of vehicles on the planet where much smaller than those on Earth, which was to be expected given that Earth was the single largest destination people were traveling to and from.

"When do we get to see Timmy?" Markus asked, impatient to see his older brother.

"We'll see him soon, don't worry," Jennifer assured him. Markus had his attention taken away as their car left one of the hanger exits, revealing downtown New Esquimalt. The terminal had been built on the outskirts of downtown where the downtown core met the regional industrial area. Home to three million of the inhabitants of the planet, the glass towers where a sight that captured the imagination of the young boy, who had his focused captured by the over kilometer tall tower that dominated the downtown area as the heart of business and tourism in the city.

His focus could not be held for long, however, as minutes later their car entered another much smaller terminal that had a low moving but small line. This terminal had only two lanes, one going in, one going out, and a toll for those going in. Travel was marked as five Terran Dollars.

"Are we going to another planet?" Markus asked as Rodney payed the toll.

"No Markus, this is a transporter for another part of this planet," Jennifer replied. "Timmy's working on the other side of the planet."

As she explained it to him, Rodney drove the car deeper into the terminal and into a short line of cars that one by one where directed onto a large pad on the ground, the cars going onto it one by one disappearing in a bright flash of light while a second pad had cars appearing at about the same rate and driving out of the terminal.

When it was their turn to be transported, Rodney was surprised that his youngest daughter had managed to sleep through both a trip through a stargate and being transported.

 **Haida household**

 **Ste-Michael-sur-Yane, New Acadia**

"What am I supposed to say to them when they get here?" Timothy McKay asked himself aloud as he paced the room he was renting.

"You should not be worrying about it, I'm sure they will be happy to hear about this." The comment came from Mei Haida, who was sitting on the side of his bed as the young Tagrisian woman watched him walk around the room.

"Yes but you don't understand. My parents aren't like your parents, they're…"

"They aren't my parents," Mei interrupted.

"Right, your sister and brother-in-law. Whatever. My point is that they won't react the same way to this." He let out a sigh and took a seat next to her.

"Does that mean you regret the choice you've made?" As she asked, Mei fiddled with a ring on her fingers.

"No, it's just that I feel more stressed about this part than anything else."

"Even more then when you asked?"

He let out a quiet laugh at her question. "Somehow yes. Call me a mind reader but I knew you wanted this just as much as I did."

"That is where you are wrong," her statement made him give her a questioning look. "I wanted this even more than that."

" _Oh my god, if you two are going to be like that, can you at least do it more quietly? You know the walls are paper thin in this place."_ Takao Haida, fifteen year old son of his hosts, complained from his own room.

" _Ah be quiet yourself, you're just playing that VRMMO, it's not like you could even hear them once you start playing anyway."_ Jeffery Haida, one of the older Haida boys, yelled back.

"They really need to make add an inch to the walls around here," Timothy lamented.

"The downside of lighter, stronger materials being developed," Mei added.

The two let things quiet down in the house, Timothy wondering how he was going to drop the news of his engagement to his parents.

 **Heliopolis Station**

 **Gravitation dead zone between the four stars of the Cyrannus system**

Prince Albert was nervous as he walked the large halls of the station. Five miles from end to end, the station was a testament to the construction abilities of the Systems Alliance, with the bulk of the construction being financed and given both its labour and its materials from Earth, Hebridan, Galar, the Imperium and the Sagittaron Republic.

The station held two purposes. First was as the seat of the Alliance, where the overarching treaties of its members where negotiated and her member worlds represented. The second was the far more important one, the massive hall of nations which housed a representative of every single independent nation, world or groups of worlds in the galaxy which were not isolationist. An effective United Nations in space, appropriately led by United Earth and dominated by its Alliance block.

If there was one thing most of the quarter million humans, near-humans and non-humans hated about the work they did was the fact there was always at least one crisis at hand somewhere that needed to be dealt with. One of those crises was why Albert was there in that moment, his unit having been called to put down a violent Warlord trying to carve out his own empire.

Such madmen where popping up win increasing frequency out of the territory of the Free Jaffa Nation and the worlds they had lost in their war with the Goa'uld, both of which had been seriously destabilized by the conflict. He was there to give a report about the events to a committee.

It was one thing he hated about his title and effective position of ambassador for one of the worlds of the Imperium. In the years since the Great Catastrophe democracy had died down in the Imperium, a temporary state of emergency turning into a permanent position of power for Imperator Belzen and his mixed military and civilian council government.

For Virgon, this had led to the royal family returning to a role of prominence in politics, the surviving family members under the young Queen becoming a symbol of unity for their people during the dark days of reconstruction. Things where far better now, the environment long cleared and much of the infrastructure that was needed to sustain their surviving population rebuilt. Virgon had also returned to the financial and industrial heart of the Imperium while the political centre of the system shifted to Tauron, which also had also stolen the heart of the Imperial military from Picon.

The politics of it all was above him, he was simply a symbol and a soldier, nothing more. It was his older sister who had to deal with the problems of it all.

"Ensign Albert Fer Hedrian, on the date of the seventh of October, 2032 Alliance Task Force Seven entered the system designated P9R-739, officially titles 'Gakorak', in a battle against the forces of Lord Haboreth where engaged in battle. The report states that all space based forces were destroyed and a full half of the forces on the ground before they surrendered. The report as outlined in document C-070932827 leaves this committee with several questions regarding events mentioned. Do you understand the nature of this hearing?"

"Yes sir I do."

"Good."

Debriefings where not his strong suit, but as much as he hated them he had to go above and beyond as a witness in any major events he would partake in. He had known that it was going to happen, but that did nothing to make him feel easier about it. He had no idea how it happened, but he wanted to go back into the cockpit of his Viper more then he wanted to be before the committee.

 **New Caprica**

 **Kobol**

Lee Adama watched over the settlement from the favoured viewing spot of those who called the planet home. The location had been turned into a park, with a stone balcony built to make the spot safer to watch the valley from. The valley itself had turned into quite the town and base, with the near entirety of the space between the cavern which housed the stargate and the Ancient outpost having been turned into urban landscape. The settlement had also grown out to where the two mountains that flanked the valley met, with the opposite side having fields growing food beyond the airfield connecting them to the fleet in orbit.

In the distance Lee could see a transport visibly carrying dozens of cargo crates coming in for a landing. Given the state of trade he knew the only planet such a ship could have come from was with their trading partner of New Acadia. The Earth colony was only one jump away from them, which led to bilateral trade being done through cargo ships that where capable of landing. By comparison those handling trade between the Cyrannus system and Kobol where the far larger orbit only ships that required transport shuttles to ferry their cargo to the planet due to the need for fifty jumps each way between the two systems.

Lee wondered what his future was going to be as he took in the sight for the countless time in the years he had called the planet home. The construction of Heliopolis Station had seen the Cyrannus stargate moved to it for diplomatic reasons, having led to Kobol becoming an even more important part of the Imperial exploration effort in the galaxy.

He, however, had been taken off Recon One after his metamorphic transformation sixteen years earlier during the Genocide of Caprica. His deformity had made him request being taken off the team that was the face of the Imperium in contact. So instead he had been made responsible for all wings of Vipers, Raptors and the 302s that had been purchased from Earth. He was also technically in command of the wing of Earth aircraft of a pair of 205s and eight 302s, though in practice this was only true in emergency situations that had never yet materialized.

After over a decade and a half of that role, he felt it was time to move on. He was thirty nine, reaching the end of his current contract and he was having serious thoughts of going civilian. The settlement had jobs of all nature opening up, and someone with his experience and skills would be considered highly valuable.

On top of it all he had more than just himself to think about, but also the other three closest to him. He could handle another term in the force as a high ranking pencil pusher, but that would put strain on his relationships with his wife and sons.

It was a no win situation. He needed to keep a job down, one that could put food on the table for a family that ate far more than a typical household due to both he and his wife having abilities.

So many choices, something he had never been good at, just following along with what others told him to do.

 **Galactic Strategic Command Center**

 **The Peak**

Jack O'Neill watched over the massive command center filled with thousands of analysts and communication officers at work gathering, analysis or distributing information from all across the galaxy. The massive hundred and fifty meter wide hologram across the cavernous room showed positions and believed positions of their forces, allied forces and other forces in real time, something that in his off time he enjoyed watching.

At that moment he almost felt like he was only in his early forties, though he was physically in his fifties. That was still far better than the reality of the situation, as he was just under two weeks away from his eighty birthday.

Over the years some had questioned his refusal to retire once more, however he had proven that his competence as a leader had not diminished with time, and there was no pressing reason to force him out of service. It was not unprecedented, as his ground based counterpart had just past one hundred years of age and was not only still leading his organization but continued to be active in field operations when the need arose. The miracle of alien rejuvenation technology being applied in Earth society had changed how people began to look at age.

That was why he was still doing the job, and he had no plans of retiring given he had somehow learned to enjoy doing the work he did. Against all odds he did not want to quit, and that seemed to be the same situation his 'son' Jonathan O'Neill felt as the younger man was now a Brigadier General in the Royal New Acadian Marine Corp, and looking to go all the way to the top in the chain of command.

Alarms going off throughout the command center brought his attention off his coffee and towards those around him.

"What's happening? Who's under attack or needs help?" The alarms did not go off often in the command center, and their presence was always a bad sign.

"We have a massive hyperspace distortion coming our way," one of the countless techs informed him. Above their heads the hologram of the galaxy became half its size, moving to one side of the massive airspace it had once dominated to reveal a large red blob being tracked.

"Holy shit, how big is that thing?" Jack asked, never before having seen such a large target.

"Hyperspace displacement is approximately three times the mass of Jupiter. It should reach our galaxy in two months at its current rate of approach."

Jack let out a long sigh. "Well, it was nice while it lasted. Okay people, contact all Alliance governments and militaries and advise them of the situation, and sent a message to Heliopolis making them aware of what we're dealing with. I want all our reservists mobilized and fall shore leave is hereby cancelled."

He looked up at the holographic display again, thinking of what it was he was dealing with. He then remembered what Jay had told him many years ago before he had passed away, and it was only then he realized that the man had evidently failed in his mission. And it was then that he truly understood the scale of what they were dealing with. "God help us."

 **Author's Notes**

Well, that's the first chapter of the sequel to Brother's Betrayal. 16 years later things are quite different, and just like that so is the style of this story. While it will continue the "bit of everyone's perspective" Betrayal had, it will also very much have a main cast in the form of Prince Albert, Timothy McKay and Lee Adama being the most recurring characters.

Thank you for everyone who read that story and wanted to see this one, and I look forward to speculation you all have on the nature and outcome of the threat that has been presented, as well as the others which will be a part of this story (because a single overarching threat is just not how I do things).

Thank you, and stay tuned for more.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack was unsure of himself. He usually had no problem with being underground, but for whatever reason as the elevator marked three kilometers below ground and still descending. He had never set foot in the base, though he had been very aware of it, the black site deep within the Congo being one he had never had a need to visit.

Due to the nature of the base, he had never believed he would need to see it, and he had needed to jump through multiple hoops to reach it. Passive transport scramblers had been employed by some alien technology uncovered in the area by miners years earlier, and the new ones taking up residence within the area had not elected to shut it down.

Three thousand two hundred meters, the display on the top of the elevator made it clear they had reached the bottom. With how long it took to reach that depth, Jack knew there had to be an inertia dampener in the floorboards. It was the only way the trip could have been so fast without entering freefall and a deadly deceleration. With it being the only way in or out of the facility, it was likely linked to a kill switch for defensive purposes.

The first thing that greeted him and his guard was a pair of automated machineguns and a single iron suit standing sentry in a narrow corridor, all behind concrete blocks. Typical was all Jack could think, but it was is anything subdued compared to what he suspected. Which led him to believe that there was more that was hidden.

The guard motioned for him deeper into the base, the large but mostly uninhabited facility feeling off to Jack. He knew he would not like this place, but the expectation and reality where different types of discomfort. The alien tech the base was built around had been known to do something to people exposed to it, but even after nearly two decades discomfort seemed to have been all it was. That was save one of the two who had called the base home for its entire existence, but that was unconnected to the alien tech.

It was, however, related to other alien activity.

The specialized medical facility built specifically for its current inhabitant reminded Jack of the generic rooms of the old SGC, three walls of concrete with a final one covered in bulletproof, air tight acrylic panels used for anything from complicated surgery to dissecting power generators.

This one had a bed and nothing more. The lone inhabitant was an East Asian man who looked to be in his forties. The man was shivering, doing so rapidly beyond what a person should. His shacking was at a speed that caused parts of him to be a blur, the motion too fast for the human eye to track. The man was holding his head, a clear source of pain for him.

The observation area had three people, all of whom where women wearing medical garbs. All three were clearly related, long red hair and a similarly structured face making that impossible for Jack to miss. Though they were also not clones, as one of the two as old as the man being observed had light green skin instead of normal human pigmentation, and the younger one was clearly a young adult at most and possibly a minor.

Jack understood why the three where concerned. He knew all four, the man by work and the three women by reputation. They were family, the women by blood and the man by marriage. With all three being medical doctors by trade or in training, it was no surprise to him that they would try to assist their son-in-law, husband and father respectively.

"How is he?" none of the three looked away from their instruments at his question.

"He's doing better now that we've flooded the air with a sedative" the older one who looked normal stated. "His metabolism makes it knocking him out impossible without something dangerous, but it seems to be easing the pain."

"Director, he's deteriorating at a constant rate. If this doesn't change, he will die in about five days" the comment came from the green skinned one. "We're going to have to ice him before that. If you want to ask him questions, it's now or never because I'm putting him in within the hour if the next round of treatments fail."

"Time is something that everyone seems to be short on" Jack stated, walking up to the microphone that was tied up to speakers in the room. _"Shin, can you hear me? It's Jack."_

"Jack?" The man, Shin, stated. He looked up to Jack, meeting his eyes, though from where Jack was sitting he only saw the afterimage of a face spending more time then not around the place his eyes where telling him it was instead of where it should have been. Quicksters had that problems when moving on the spot.

" _Shin yesterday we detected… something. We don't know what it is, but it's coming from outside our galaxy, two months out but large enough that we can already detect it. I wanted to know…"_

"Dear god no, no it can't be." The look of terror in the afterimage of Shin made it clear he both knew what Jack was talking about, and confirmed it was that.

" _So it is that thing isn't it?"_

"No it can't be. Jay killed it, he killed it! He blew himself up with that tainted ZPM, he killed that bastard."

" _Shin, the object we've detected is three times the mass of Jupiter. That sounds consistent with the few things you've mentioned of it over the years. I need details. I need to know what I'm facing, and you and your wife are the only living people in the universe I know who have come face to face with this thing. Whatever it is."_

"Okay, say I believe you, that my best friend died for nothing, what would be the point? There's nothing we have that can stop him."

"I should warn you Director, his judgement is impaired. He isn't thinking rationally because of the pain. I really should be the one to answer all your questions" the green skinned women informed him, keeping the microphone off while she spoke.

"I'm aware of that, but he may know something you don't. I have two months to ask you questions before that thing arrives. I have one hour to do the same with him." Jack turned the microphone back on. _"Shin, why it is impossible? You of all people know how nothing it impossible."_

"Jack I know where the line between the possible and impossible it, I crossed it to get here in the first place. Burned what was left of the scorched remains of my Earth to come back in time with my wife and my best friend to set things right."

" _And you did just that. The galaxy owes you a dept. it does not know, hundreds of billions of people are alive today who otherwise would not be because of your actions."_

"But it was all for nothing. Jack don't you get it? That thing, he can't be killed by a big nuke or a fleet of ships. We tried that, tried everything you could think of, but in the end the ZPM bomb was all that could work. All that could get him in one shot. A fleet does nothing, kill one of the drones and another will take its place. The Alliance fleet is nothing compared to it. How many ships are there? Two thousand in the Terran fleet? One thousands amongst the Cyrannoid fleets? Another give hundred amongst the Hebridan, Galar and everyone else? That's not even four thousand. And the Goa'uld? The Jaffa? Coalition or the Lucians? Not even another ten thousand Ha'tak amongst them. Ever if everyone in the galaxy came together to fight that bastard, and we called in our allies in the Pegasus and Triangulum galaxies as well, and then multiplied all forces by a thousand, it would then maybe become a fight we could get a pyrrhic victory out of." As Shin spoke he had stood up and taken several steps towards Jack, the ground below him cracking under the pressure from his vibrating feet. "Jack this thing was built to systematically exterminate life down to the cellular level on the galactic scale, and to do so while holding its own against countless space fairing civilizations fighting against it at once in unison using both all possible conventional and unconventional means. It purged most of the Andromeda galaxy of life, why do you think there are so few races there that didn't have their whole civilizations built around moving their entire populations in a matter of hours? You simply can't defeat it."

" _We can try."_

 **Imperial Palace of Hypatia**

 **Tauron**

From his vantage point high in the palace overlooking the capital of both Tauron and the Imperium for which it was the heart of, Jurgen Belzen felt small. It was something that would sound odd to others, he was the man who had been leading all save two of the worlds in the Cyrannus system for the better part of two decades, who had led them through the dark days of reconstruction after the Great Catastrophe, who had been declared Avatar of the Gods by the Order of Athena, and who had through rapid maneuvering quelled Republicanism within the Imperium.

Yet for all his accomplishments that each on their own seemed impossible he still felt small as he watched over the capital. The city had been flattened by the war, the short-lived blockade of the planet by Earth ships had left a mark on the economy, as had the general recession brought about by the war. And then the Catastrophe occurred and flattened the city in nuclear hellfire. Even today nearly two decades later much of the city still held the marks of that betrayal, entire districts arising as new skyscrapers arose from the ground towards the heavens.

In these moments of calm he would think, usually of work but it always ended with his mind drifting to other subjects. In the past days he had been thinking of his first wife, of his two daughters, and those others he had known who had been lost in the attack. If there was one thing that unified the Imperium it was the trauma of the losses taken that day, everyone lost someone, and many had lost everyone. Millions had taken the easy way out, and while Belzen had the thought cross his mind once he never took it beyond the hypothetical. He had a responsibility to his people, and he had to live up to them for the sake of all those who had been lost.

That had been why he remarried a decade earlier. Grand Admiral Vert had been the only real person he could connect to on a personal level in the years after the war. She had been a close friend before both had taken their respective positions as head of the military and head of the state and government respectively. Many had called it a power play on both their parts, and in some respect it was true as it cemented the Belzen Dynasty by both securing its backing by the military and allowing for an heir to be born.

That was what had led Belzen here on this night, as his first son had been born only a week before. He despised the fact that by virtue of his birth he had burdened his son with politics and conspiracy for life, but it was the price he had to pay. Belzen was getting old, already he was in his late fifties, a fact which sometimes came to him very suddenly. Even with the advancement of medical technology he would not be able to handle the weight of his work forever, and he would need someone to replace him who was competent.

He wanted that to be someone he knew could do the job, someone raised specifically for dealing with the challenges of leading a dozen worlds as its absolute monarch, where each world had its own political maze to be navigated, other families that had effectively created houses within the political establishment, and all this on top of internal Alliance relations with other worlds such as Earth and Sagittaron, and foreign politics with non-Alliance worlds.

It was all a balancing act beyond the capabilities of most to handle, and he needed to assure he could have someone to take his place in the decades to come who was both competent and benevolent. Republicanism and democracy may have been dead in the Imperium due to its spectacular failure nearly ending their civilization, but that did not mean that the slightest misstep would not change that. The fight against corruption within all levels of government was a constant war he was fighting to ensure that at some distant point a smooth transition to constitutional monarchy could be held. He would not live to see it, the rapid transition to federated republicanism of the old Colonies had been its downfall due to the endemic corruption at all levels that had allowed for Adar's Blunder to occur.

No, instead reform would be gradual, each step taken being meticulously calculated to prevent the sanctity of governance to once again be corrupted.

"My lord, you requested my presence?"

Belzen turned his attention to the young man who had entered. The young Virgon Prince and the Battlestar Rhea had become in many ways a symbol of the times and the state of the Imperium. Image was very important to Belzen, not only to inspire the people that they could be what they once where but that it was possible to go beyond simply returning to their once great state. They had believed themselves to be the center of the universe, and had been rudely awaken to reality that such illusions where very far from the case.

"There is a mission I need for Task Force Rhea, and I wanted you to be the official to deliver it" Belzen explained. He walked to a desk which had an official order with his stamp and signature already on it. "Tell me, what do you know of the Traitor Legion?"

"Well my lord the Traitor Legion where the forces under Grand Admiral Bastiel who tried to overthrow the old Colonial administration of President Richard Adar" Albert stated. "Their defeat and retreat into the void was what had you declared Imperator within the old system before your reformations turned us into what we are today."

"Yes, and what else do we know of them?"

"Oh whom?"

"Of the Traitors."

Albert thought about it for a moment. "Not much my lord, outside of their existence I'm unaware of there being any information on them."

"That is what this new mission relates to." Belzen handed Albert the orders, which the young man quickly read over. "Imperial Intelligence has reason to believe that the Traitors settled on a world bordering what is officially Lucian space. If they are outside the official boundaries of the Lucian Alliance then regardless of the political nature of the Traitors we legally have right to their world and they as our citizens by the stateless persons subsection of the third treaty of Heliopolis."

"Should I inquire as to the intent of this mission?"

"The intent is to find them and if possible convince them to return to the fold as an autonomous colony similar to Kobol. If not the use of force is on the table so long as they make no official application to Heliopolis Station." Belzen set his sights to the city below once more, taking in the view. "To be honest this isn't about the Traitors. While it would be nice to have them repatriated it is only a bonus to the real goal."

"And what goal is that sir?"

"Living space."

"I don't understand."

"Living space Albert. Look at that galaxy beyond us." Belzen looked up at the stars as he spoke. "While we may be far fewer then we once where, the galaxy has entered a period of exploration. Worlds are being claimed left and right by the major powers, yet we sit here looking inward and rebuilding what we once where. If we don't start making our claim to space now there isn't going to be anything left once we do. The internal Alliance border with Earth space along the Kobol/New Acadian border area leaves us a thousand light year berth to the galactic west, I intent for the same to apply in all other directions, or to at least curtail the expansion of others. Finding where the Traitors have settled and calling that world our own would secure another part of the border, this time with the Lucians if the intelligence is accurate."

"And what if the Lucians want to keep the world?"

"They wouldn't fight a war over a single planet, not with the balance of power as it is. Their alliance is nothing compared to our own, and neither of us want a war. I'm authorizing the equivalent of a trillion qubits in material to be given to them in exchange for the planet if an exchange is needed."

"I understand my lord."

"Good. You leave at midnight Imperial Central Time tomorrow."

"Out of curiosity my lord, what of the Terrans? Surely they don't approve of such a scheme."

"I've already made the arrangements through the Terran ambassador. The United Earth government does not endorse or condone the action, however they've also made it clear that so long as it does not become a domestic issue within the Systems Alliance that they will turn a blind eye to anything short of bloodshed. In their exact words it is to be a bloodless conquest." Belzen turned his sight back towards Albert. "Be prudent Albert. This is a moment that will define how our civilization will evolve in the future. It is not we who will see the true consequences of our actions but our children, and their children. Go, be safe, and may the Gods watch over you. Et cum iter salutis cura."

"Thank you my lord, I shall. Quod iubet dominus noster." As Albert left the chamber Belzen wondered about the future of his people, as he did every night and day.


	3. Chapter 3

"Disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. Only seven percent hit accuracy, only twelve minutes before complete team wipe. If we'd fought like at in the Cyrannoid War they would have made planet fall." Rear Admiral Jon Haida was not pleased with his class. The two dozen men standing before him at attention where a hassle to deal with, which was why he had been the one assigned to teach them. Two dozen of New Acadia's best up and coming pilots, the squadron in training was special due to the fact it was the first integrated one the planet had. Eight baseline humans, eight enhanced humans, and eight near humans, all of whom called the planet home and had a vested interest in its protection.

"I've done better than this in the simulator on my own, one against an army using the same equipment. This is unacceptable, and it will not happen again, am I understood?"

"Sir Yes sir!" the squadron yelled in unison.

"Good, now drop and give me fifty. McKay, count off."

"One, Two, Three…" As Timothy McKay counted, Read Admiral Haida started pacing.

"You are the best pilots this world has to offer, and it makes me weep for the future of our people. We have twenty four 205 Avalon air superiority fighters waiting out there for pilots, and I'm half tempted to send them right back to Earth where they can actually do some good. Right now we don't do 'good enough', we do exceptional, and the reason for that is because there are four million people here who call this planet home, and that number is going to skyrocket now that our government and the homeland have signed an extension to the settlement agreement. We don't need or want 'good enough', we need what can hold the wall against anything the universe can throw at us. Captain Rodgers gave his life to defeat the Mad Titan, I except nothing less form the rest of you."

With that he stopped and waited for the squadron to finish their set.

"That will be all for today. Dismissed."

Most of the group scattered, leaving the simulation area of the facility, but one stayed behind to speak with the Admiral.

"Yes McKay, is there something I can help you with?"

"Sir, while I appreciate the fact you hold Hamilton Squad in high enough regard to hold us to a higher standard, I don't think it's quite fair to have the simulators set to a significantly higher difficulty then all the other squadrons without our being told, and then belittle us when we fail to meet those higher standards."

"Tim, the reason I do it is because you all need the pressure." Tim, that meant this was on personal terms, which meant Timothy was not to speak of it. "Before your time the military had a philosophy to it. We didn't want a super soldier, we wanted an army. The idea was that super soldiers won battles, but armies won wars. That way of thinking showed its obsolescence at New York when the Chitauri invaded. With the emergency of Mutants, Inhumans, monsters and the other oddities the universe has to offer, we need more than just an army, we need a perfect army. Earth may be the single most populous planet in the known universe, but we are always fighting at a numerical disadvantage. We need the technology, the logistics, the skills and everything else we can to give us the edge when dealing with threats both without and within. Holding the best we have to offer to a higher standard is done because it's needed. There are many moments in time where a few good men in the right place made all the difference."

The fact that the Admiral had at times been one of those few was left unspoken.

"Will that be all?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now get home. You know how Mei gets when I hold you up."

"Sir."

With his questions finished Haida walked to his office. One of the drawbacks of his current position was the hours of paperwork that had to be done each day, and being in the prime of his life he never managed to feel at home when compared to being in the field. But it had to be done, because the planet needed someone doing his job. He was the best suited for the work, so it was as simple as that.

It was after an hour of this work that he received an unexpected visit.

" _Brigadier General O'Neill is here to see you sir."_ Admiral Haida's secretary announced over his office comm.

"Send him in."

"Jon."

"Jon."

The two men never missed an opportunity to make that joke, Jonathan O'Neill having always used his legal name instead of the shorthand of the man he was a clone of. Jon Haida rarely used his full name by comparison, only using it in legal documents.

"So what's up? It's not like you to come out here out of the blue like this."

Jonathan closed the door and locked it behind him.

"I've got some bad news. Orders from high command coming straight from The Peak. You aren't going to like them, and since I'm relaying them to everyone I thought I'd soften the blow and do it in person." With that he gave him a file that contained both raw data and orders.

Admiral Haida spent a few minutes looking it over, going from a frown to the edge of fury.

"That son of a bitch. He expects me to take that bunch of raw recruits, greens who have never run an actual mission, and in five weeks send them out to the edge of the galaxy to fight… whatever the hell this thing is? Holy shit. Holy shit, what the hell is he thinking? It's a god damned suicide mission."

"Calm down, there's a plan being formed right now to deal with this. At the moment this is just a precaution." Jonathan knew it would do nothing to assure his friend and counterpart, but that did not stop him from trying.

"Calm down? I have to send a bunch of kids off to die, along with every 205 and starburst missile we have, and you want me to be calm?" Haida looked back at the document and pointed out a part to Jonathan. "The bastard's even demanding Avalon 1 be taken out of mothball for this. That's my baby, I was her pilot from the day she was put together to the day she was put in that museum. You don't demand that as a precaution."

"So what will you do?"

"What can I do? If I don't sign off on this they'll just get someone who will to do is." With clear reluctance, Haida signed off on his orders. "But I'm doing this my way. I'm not sending off those rookies to die, and I'm definitely not letting someone else pilot Avalon 1."

"Rei isn't going to be happy about that."

"No, she won't, but she'll also understand." The Admiral said nothing as he took out a bottle of wine from the bottom of his desk.

"You know, I've always been meaning to ask you about that bottle."

"Twenty fifteen wasn't the best year in the Saint Lawrence valley for wine, but it was the year he appeared and started messing around with things. I always figured his plans might not have worked out as he wanted them to. I'd hoped to never open this thing, but it seems he only delayed the inevitable instead of stopping it." He poured two glasses of the drink as he spoke, a hind of dread in his voice as he spoke.

"So you really think it's that bad" Jonathan asked as he accepted an offered glass.

"That bastard went to the trouble of going back in time, abandoning a dead galaxy and knowing he was simply creating a new timeline while doing so, meaning those he was trying to save would still be dead in his original universe. If he was willing to go that far, if I was willing to go that far, things where bad."

"True, but from what he told us his universe had an Earth with barely any people still alive on it, we had barely any space forces, the Cyrannoids where extinct and the galaxy was overrun by the Wraith. And here we are, Earth has just broken seven billion people, the Wraith are extinct, the Cyrannoids are part of our Alliance and our space forces outnumber the old Goa'uld Empire's own at their peak."

"You always where the optimistic one."

"Hope is a powerful weapon."

Admiral Haida chuckled before taking a drink of his wine. "Let's hope it's powerful enough."

 **Battlestar Rhea**

 **Port hanger**

Albert let his fingers glide over the wing of his Viper. The blue Mark IX had three small Goa'uld gliders painted under her canopy, added after her first time in combat. He was not yet an ace, and he would be happy if it stayed that way until his time on the force came to a proper end with his contract expiring. He had been given the honour of a Viper painted a bright blue, given to only the top one percent of pilots out of training. As with most traditions it was a new one, born from the Earth-Cyrannoid war due to the sheer terror Jon Haida put into Colonial Forces in his blue painted 205.

For the same reason the next four percent had their Vipers painted pink, the next five percent painted green, mimicking the other two unique 205s involved in the war. The other ninety percent where painted proper Imperial grey.

"Sir, is there something I can help you with?" Albert had his attention taken by a mechanic who was working on one of the plasma canons.

"Oh, uh, no, I just came to see how she was."

"She'll be ready for flight in five hours, give or take."

"It's always give, never take." Albert turned his attention to the new voice, his wingman Carl walking up to him and patting his shoulder. "Taking in the sight eh? I mean look at that, three whole bogies. You're half way to the Ace's Table."

"That table isn't worth it."

"Oh come on man, you're telling me you don't want to be the guy who can say he was the first to earn the right to sit at that table for a new, top of the line battlestar?"

"It wouldn't exactly be the first thing I brag about if I was talking to someone."

Carl chucked at the comment. "I guess not, but it's something you earned with hard work instead of birth."

"That paintjob is all the earned recognition I need. This whole battlegroup only has two of us in it, and that's you and me." As he spoke Albert patted his Viper, pride in his eyes at his accomplishment. "I may be royalty, but the politics of it all is not the life for me. That is for my sister, Queen of all Virgon. I want my own mark to be one I can say I built with my own two hands."

"Seems we have things inverted" Carl stated with a laugh. "You want to build something to call your own unconnected to your title, I want to build something to get one."

"You're a Gentlemen Carl, is that not enough for your commoner senses?" Albert asked with a laugh of his own.

"No sir your highness, I'm not content with being a Gentlemen, I have larger aspirations. I wish to be knighted and then go on to form my own house."

"Knights aren't high enough to form their own houses, not without being a Black Knight without loyalty or trust."

Carl shrugged at his statement. "If I can be knighted it wouldn't matter either way, and I'd be likely to push all the way to Baron from there. That would legitimize any house I form."

"You really think you can reach Baron?"

"Our Lord Imperator from second in command of a Battlestar to head of state and government in less than two years, forming the Imperium as we know it. With half as much ambition as him, I think I could even be declared king. It would most likely be of a world not yet settled, but king none the less."

"If it isn't a settled world then it wouldn't have anyone higher than a Duke at most. Viceroy Adama was responsible for Kobol itself and he is not more than an Earl."

"Well I suppose being an Earl would be enough. After all one must find balance when one plays these Game of Thrones." At Carl's comment Albert rolled his eyes.

"Every time I speak with someone about politics they always bring up that series. It's just Earther entertainment, nothing more."

"Well it's good entertainment. Theirs is a frak of a lot better than ours."

Albert couldn't say he disagreed with that statement. In the years after the Great Catastrophe Earth entertainment had come to dominate Cyrannoid society. Even before the fall in a mutual exchange of culture Earth entertainment would though sheer bulk have made a large impact on Cyrannus. The fact there was little competition after the event only made their domination of the market assured as competition was slow to arise.

The floodgates had been open in the early days of reconstruction, and now any company worth mentioning from Earth had its hands in the Cyrannoid market. Where there where once only a dozen channels there where now hundreds, most specializing in niche markets that where almost entirely Earth entertainment. Where drinks once had the question of which of the dozens of small brands was the one used locally, the question was now if it was Coke or Pepsi. Where candies where once mostly sugar and vanilla extract mixed into one of countless ways, dominance went to Earth chocolate. And what possible child could imagine a summer today without lactic free ice cream, made specifically for the predominantly lactose intolerant Cyrannoid people?

Albert did take small comfort in the fact that it was far from a one way street though. While Cyrannoid society was dominated by Earth culture, each world had its own distinct flavour to it. Products where not homogenous, each world and even areas within a world having a different take on the same idea. The media also held plenty of Cyrannoid made entertainment, some of which had become a niche market on Earth itself, as had some of the unique foods different worlds had to offer. While it was true Earth had more of it all than any other, exchange was not one way, even if trade had a large deficit between the Cyrannoids and the Earthers.

"It may be better, but we're getting there. You don't recover from a nuclear assault overnight."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It's too bad none of the freaks in all those Initiatives can just snap their fingers and make things right again."

Albert quietly agreed with Carl on that one. While many held great respect for those risking their lives in one of the hundreds of Avengers chapters active throughout Imperial space, there were those who held a twinge of fear for them. They held many names, but they all had things in common, namely their abilities beyond that of mortal man. The fact so many would elect to take the path of darkness was what was most off-putting to people. Every city, every district, every planet had its heroes, but for each one of them there seemed to be a dozen terrorists, super criminals and lunatics terrorizing the people.

Albert would never say he outright feared such people given what he had seem them do over the years, but in the back of his mind there was that primal fear over one of them turning suddenly. A baseline human was far less dangerous by comparison. He was unsure of it all, confused, and it was something found across Imperial society. It was also one of the few things that both they and Earth truly had in common.

That being common ground was one of the few things that terrified him more.

 **Ragnar Air Base**

 **Kobol**

"Dismissed!" As Lee Adama spoke the order he felt his nerved calm. He had been nervous the entire day in preparation and execution of the tour of the base that he was one of the hosts for. The display had been for show, all the aircraft not undergoing major maintenance being brought onto a runway that had been cleared of use for the day while her pilots and hanger crews stood at attention with their best dress uniforms.

The tour had gone by smoothly, thankfully his presence was more for show than anything else as the base commander was the one doing all the real talking. What had made him nervous was who the tour was for. Three people had been the VIPs for the tour: his father Earl William Adama, acting Viceroy of Kobol, Baroness Laura Roslin, and Viceroy Kendra Shaw.

The tour was part of a wider tour of the planet, specifically the settlements and bases that had arisen in the wake of colonization efforts, as a part of the formalities of the torch being passed down from Earl Adama to Viceroy Shaw as she was to take his place as leader of the planet.

This, however, had given Lee a rare chance to speak with his father. While the two lived only ten minutes by car from each other, their professional lives had limited their interactions to only a few times each year. His children saw the man far more often.

"So what are your plans once the 'T's are crossed and the 'I's are dotted?" The question was one that Lee had been wondering for some time, but had never had the opportunity to ask.

"Well the plan is to sell the house and move to one that was just built down by Lake Arawa. You know, that one that just had a road built to it. There's a town starting down there. I bought a plot of land right on the lake, two hundred meters of mixed rock and sand coastline. A whole four hectare of land, plenty of space for a two story house, a decent shed and a garden for her." The way Bill spoke of his plans had a tone of joy that Lee had rarely seen in his father in recent years, the pressure of leadership in his old age being a heavy weight on the man. He had earned his retirement.

"It's a good think you bought it now, if a town is starting there then prices are going to go up fast." Lee replied.

"That it will Lee, which is why I had to pester Bill about it for half a year for him to get it done" Laura added. Bill laughed at that.

"We had a small disagreement on the details, but that's all in the past now. Now all we have is retirement and actually building the damn thing."

"The boys will probably be upset that they can't see you two as often."

"That's too bad, but we can't stay in that house. It's just not a home, it's an office with a bedroom in it." At Bill's comment the three of them laughed. "So what about you? What are your plans? You're contract is coming to an end soon isn't it?"

"Well I'm not sure to be honest. I think this part of my life is over, or at least coming to an end. But we just got a mobilization order a few days ago. I'm going to be taking two full wings with me to someplace with the boys up in the air."

"You're worried" Laura stated.

"Of course I am. If they need us then something big is happening." Lee looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I don't know the specifics, but the boys upstairs are worried. Actually they're terrified, and everyone's taken notice."

"Why haven't I been informed of any of this?" Bill's question had Lee shrug in response.

"I don't know dad, maybe since you're retiring before we leave they're going straight to Viceroy Shaw. This seems to be something that's being kept need to know."

"Well for the next few days I'm still the Acting Viceroy, which means those under my responsibility are being sent out to fight. Which means I need to know." Without another word Bill stormed off.

"There's going to be hell to pay for whoever thought it was a good idea to keep this from him." Lee nodded to Laura's statement.

Lee was worried. His ears where getting itchy, something that had started to happen when he was nervous after his metamorphosis. When he thought about the upcoming mission he was responsible for, they got itchier then they had at any point during the tour.

 **Author's notes**

Sorry about the wait, things happened and this was the soonest I could get this out.

Well then, things are starting to be set in motion, and here we have the first chapter with our three 'heroes' all showing up, even if not all where the focus of their parts. Let's hope I can get the next one out faster than this one.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack never liked giving speeches or briefings to politicians. There was something about it that made it so much worst then doing the same with his men, but it was a part of his job and he had no real choice in the matter.

Before him sat seventy three representatives from Earth's Systems Alliance. Each civilian inhabited world held a seat in this meeting, most of it dominated by Earth and her former Site locations which were now seeing tens of millions resettled to, with much of the rest being the worlds of the Cyrannus system, Hebridan and her colonies or protectorates of Earth from the Protected Planets Treaty.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our galaxy is once again under the threat of an extinction level event. What I'm about to tell you is classified at the highest levels of secrecy, discussing this outside this room with anyone save your heads of government will be considered an act against the security of the Alliance and treated as such." The opening was somewhat corny in Jack's opinion, but it grabbed the attention of the representatives. "Several weeks ago The Peak picked up an unusual signature over the Galactic Hyperspace Monitoring System. The science behind this system is complicated, but to simplify we have thousands of satellites tracking hyperspace displacement throughout the galaxy which allows for sufficiently large objects to be tracked when moving." He paused as he brought up an image behind him, showing different celestial bodies for scale. One was Earth, another was Jupiter, and the last was a large red sphere. "This was what had been detected, it's several hundred thousand light years away from our galaxy, but we have confirmed that it is approaching, and will reach us in approximately tix to eight weeks. We believe this object to not actually be a single object, but a large fleet, one of a scale unseen in the history of our galaxy."

He brought up another image, one showing a person, a Viper, a 205, and a drone of some sort that seemed to have dozens of mechanical red eyes at the front of its black figure. This image had another part to it, which showed the objects to a different scale where another similar but far larger drone was compared to a 306 carrier. In the case of the smaller drone and the larger one, they were both noticeably larger than the objects they were being compared to.

"This is what we are facing, a fleet of tens of thousands of large drones escorted by millions of smaller ones that we believe intend to eradicate all life in our galaxy."

"If we haven't seen them yet, and they aren't here, how do we have this information?" One of the representatives asked.

"That's a long story, one that's classified, but suffice to say we believe this information to be accurate." Even if Jack had been allowed to discuss the nature of how they had obtained the information of the invaders, he had his doubts that a story involving time travel, an organization which did not exist on paper and several individuals who also did not exist would win anyone over. He knew he would doubt it had he not had firsthand experience with all three. "A mobilization order has already been given to forces throughout Allied space. The reason you have been brought here is for the approval of a formal request for assistance in fighting this menace with non-allied powers."

"Will the Alliance really not be enough to deal with this threat given the power Earth's fleet alone has to offer?" Another representative asked.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question. While we are aware of what these things are we don't know how well they handle Starburst or Imperial class missiles. That's going to be the real determining factor here given the numbers we're talking about, but the presence of others to bolster our numbers would be better had and not needed then to be needed and not had."

"What of the Dakara Device? If we were to scrape together enough people to rebuild it could it not be used to rid the galaxy of whatever these things are?"

"In theory yes, but we'd need a lot of information about these invaders we don't have to make sure anything done using the device only effected them. That's before we even get to the fact the device needs to be rebuilt, and god only knows how long that would take."

The representatives looked amongst each other, many trying to gauge the reactions of those around them to all this information they had been given. The representative for Juno, a newer Earth colony, spoke up.

"What of Hive ships or the Everest?" The Galar representative asked him.

"Our Hive ships and their escorts have already been pegged for this mission, as have our Ancient vessels save the Destiny. Though the Everest will only be involved should her construction be finished in time." Jack realized in hindsight he should have mentioned that before. The Hive ships Earth had at her disposal where a massive asset, the Bounty having been the first but far from the last of her kind. The means of constructing Hive ships without the use of human life had been discovered, and over the nearly two decades of using Wraith biotechnology two more Hives had been constructed. These two ships had also been modified before, during and after their growth so that they would have their colour match the standard grey of Earth ships, as well as to make their hardware more easily compatible with Earth's own. This had led to the two Earth build Hive ships, the SSV Liberator and SSV Independence, being equipped with a dozen overlapping city-class shields, hundreds of thousands of Ancient drones, thousands of fighters, tens of thousands of missiles and countless energy and ballistic weapons of all nature on top of those which naturally formed the Wraith Hive. The Bounty, by comparison, while still a formidable warship, was not in the same league as these flying city-sized fortresses, and was instead relegated to transporting settlers and massive amounts of material between Earth and her colonies.

The Everest was, however, in a league of its own. It was an experimental ship, officially designated the BC-307. It was being built as a prototype for the possible 308 heavy battleship, with the 307 built around the skeleton of an Earth built Largrangian Point satellite. Earth currently had eight such satellites in orbit, and a plan had been derived to use two as the basis for an experimental warship to bring the firepower of such a ship and make it mobile. Should the experiment work the 307, and later 308, would be the most powerful ship pound-for-pound that the known galaxy had ever seen.

The only problem was that the first ship of their class would be cutting it fairly close for preparations for the new threat that was being thrown their way. It was still up in the air if it could take part in the mission at all.

"This threat is a clear one just by its size. A menace like that could easily fly through us like a wave over a rock. I think we have all we need to know to vote on the matter." At the declaration by the Earth representative, the group voted on the matter. While there were six abstentions, none voted against. "The motion is carried. Out of curiosity, director O'neill, what is the name of this menace we are facing?"

"It calls itself Gah Lak Tus."

 **Imperial Helicarrier Demeter**

 **Airspace over Old Caprica City, Caprica**

"Director Agathon, I'm getting a priority message from the capital. It's marked for your eyes only."

"I'll take it in my office." As Karl left the bridge he wondered what could be important enough to take him away from his exercise. At that moment the Demeter and her crew where taking part in the annual exercises involving the current class from the Imperial Academy for Enhanced Individuals. The Academy had thousands of students across its two campuses on Caprica and Canceron, the two planets chosen due to their depopulation leaving large areas of urban environment that had not been resettled. The exercises involving Imperium build helicarriers where usually reserved for final exercises near a class graduation, their use being used to make things as close to reality as possible.

The importance of the exercises was why Karl, as Director of the Imperial Shield, took part in personally to see the state of each class about to enter his organization. And he made no secret of this fact. Which made him curious about the nature of his call.

Opening a line to the capital, his monitor showed the Imperial Crest before showing Imperator Belzen.

"My lord, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Cut the crap out Karl, this is a secure line."

At that moment Karl had his shoulders deflate and his posture became more relaxed. "I see. So what's this about? I have an exercise to observe."

"It's about your assets. We could be seeing the need for the activation of quite a few of them."

"What's going on?"

"A mechanical threat has arisen that the fleet may not be able to deal with."

"Is it…"

"It's not Aschen controlled Cylons, no." Karl was unsure how to feel about that. Ever since the betrayal of the Aschen he, like most, wanted revenge. Being the director of the largest law enforcement and counterterrorist, he was reminded each day of their nemesis due to the fact the face of Administrator Borren was plastered on the bridge of his ship at the top spot in their top ten most wanted.

"So what type of menace is this?"

"I can't say." Karl rolled his eyes at that answer.

"You can't say? What, are the Earthers keeping something over your head? Outside of a few in the Alliance you can do whatever you want."

"I can't say because I don't know."

"I see. How big of a threat is this?"

"Fairly large. I can't go into details because we simply don't know what they are, but given what I've been told by those working on Heliopolis Station, the Earthers seem scared, some even say terrified. I've seen the phrase 'like the Mad Titan but on a galactic scale' or something like it used from more than one source."

"By gods, could we even survive something like that?" Karl had a rare hint of terror in his voice. He knew the horrors that Earth had felt due to the actions of that insane alien. Many of their best had fallen on that day, and he had been present at the memorial unveiling in which John Shepard had been given Steve Rodger's mantel. It was a somber day, one he had feared his worlds would be forced to endure once more. He was unsure if they could handle it. And he did not want to find out.

"That's what we'll have to find out."

"Well then, I'll do my best to prepare the class." With that, the line closed and Karl walked back onto the bridge. "Increase the difficulty of all variables by twenty percent."

"Sir?"

"Do it."

"Yes sir." Without another word he walked to the center of the bridge where he could get a good view both of the large bridge and out the forward windows to the city below. He knew he could never get those training below to be truly ready before whatever they were called for saw their need, but he would make sure they were as prepared as possible for when the inevitable arrived.

 **Haida Household**

 **New Acadia**

Timothy rubbed his eyes as he looked out over the fields. Leaning on the porch railing he could not help but wonder what was going to happen when his unit was activated.

"You're too nervous."

He turned his attention to the door, his soon-to-be sister in law Rei Haida stood. Her hands each held a glass of juice.

"It's that obvious eh?"

"Yes. You're just like Jon was before we settled down here." She offered him one of the glasses. "It's a mix of punch and apple juice with a bit of maple syrup mixed in. It always works to calm him down."

"Thanks, but should you be drinking something like that given you're…" Tim trailed off as he looked down at her rounded stomach.

"Oh, the other isn't for me, it's for Jon." At her comment about his Tim turned his attention to the open space between the house and the fields. He could see Jon, Mei and the six oldest children of the family working on their abilities by braking logs. While the father trained the older children, some of the younger ones played amongst themselves or imitated the physical motions of the older ones.

"So many kids" he said under his breath, though Rei caught it.

"You should know what you're getting into when you marry Mei. When she has her first pair of twins she will want more, and will continue to do so until she can't anymore. And with the state of medicine as it is that will be in quite a long time."

"I have a feeling I'm going to be asking Jon for a lot of advice on the matter." While money would likely not be an issue, tax breaks for child dependents where very generous on New Acadia, the sheer stress of raising so many children was something he could not imagine. Jon and Rei had raised Mei as their own, and then on top of that had six sets of twins and counting on top of that. Thankfully through renovation their home had become large enough to deal with the needs of their large family, but Timothy wondered how he was supposed to handle it all. Despite the man being like family to him, and his assurances to the contrary, Jon was one of many people who still had some mysticism around him in the eyes of Tim and many others.

"You know we unsheathed Avalon 1 today. You should have seen the look in Jon's eyes as he pulled off the tarp and ordered some technicians to get her ready for combat."

"I would think he would have been heartbroken to have to take her into combat again."

"Oh, he was. I don't think I've seen that look before in him. I'm going to be honest, I think a small part of him died inside." He finished the last of his drink. "I don't know how you handle it, him still being in the service. I'd have thought after you got the farm up and running you'd force him to go reservist or quit outright."

"Did I ever tell you about how the two of us met?"

"No, not that I can remember."

"We were a few years younger than you are. The two of us had been conscripted for years at that point due to our abilities. Both of us where young pilots of billion dollar weapons of war made from alien technology. We met in a hanger and the first thing he did was flirt with me." She giggled at that moment, taking a momentary pause before continuing. "It wasn't for several months after that when we began to develop a relationship that became what we have today. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Tim took a moment to think about it. "No, not really. I don't really get it."

"What I'm saying is he's a fighter. He has always been a fighter. He needs a fight, his upbringing demands it, and so he fights. It'll take time, but eventually he will reach a point where the fight is no longer needed. Until then, all I can do is watch, hope for the best and when he needs it give him help getting through it all. But when the day comes when the fight is out of him, then I'll be waiting here, ready for him to come home one last time."

"And what if he dies before that day comes."

"He won't."

"But what if he does?"

"Then I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. He wouldn't be the first person I've lost in the line of duty, though he would certainly be the closest."

"Well you don't have to worry about that for this mission. I'll be watching his back." Tim's comment earned a heartfelt laugh from Rei.

"I see you've managed to get quite the bit of self-confidence since you first came here."

"I feel slightly insulted by that."

"Don't, Jon has a lifetime of combat experience over you, it's only natural that he would be better in a fighter that was designed around him." She took his finished glass from his hand. "There's a full set of iced tea on the tray in the kitchen. Could you get it for me? The kids are probably getting thirty with all their training."

"Oh, sure."

As he entered the house, she looked over her husband, sister and children as they continued their training. Behind them in the fields a half dozen harvesters and tractors collected grain, the automated machines brining in the real source of the household's income.

Looking out at the fields she wondered when the day would come he hung up his uniform for good. She had hung up her uniform to take care of the kids, and had never looked back.

" _I wonder when I'll finally get to keep you here for good."_ She thought to herself.

" _You know I want to, but I can't stop the urge, only channel it, control it. When it goes away I'll be as happy about it as you are."_ She turned her gaze to him, who was now looking right back at her.

While it was only for a moment, the two forgot of the dangers inherent to their world.

 **Author's Notes**

And now the enemy has a face, specifically that of the Ultimate's iteration of Galactus. Now I'd say props to OMA001 for figuring it out, but I did explicitly state it in Avalon two full years ago that he was coming, and hints of his arrival where dropped throughout Brother's Betrayal. You have good memory.

As for Nimbus, the Aschen and Cylons are mostly going to be non-entities in this story. At least the Aschen controlled ones won't, the other two faction of Cylons will.

In any event, we now inch closer to the inevitable conflict. And hey this update came quickly. Probably won't happen again, or it might. I can never tell how fast these things will come.


End file.
